Windmill.



J. 0. LINDSEY.

WINDMILL.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 8, 1911.

1 ,01 9,974. Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Inventor Attorneys LLLLLLLLLLL NOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. 04 c4 PatentedMar. 12, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lnven r Witnesses y I I I Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES OWEN LINDSEY, 0F HEREFORD, TEXAS.

WINDMILL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES 0. LINDSEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hereford, in the county of Deaf Smith and State of Texas,have invented a new and useful Windmill, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to windmills and its object is to provide adevice of this character utilizing a horizontally movable wheel providedwith wings having means whereby they can be automatically shifted out ofthe wind when they reach predetermined positions, thus permitting thesteady rotation of the wheel in one direction and without hindrance bythose of the wings which are advancing against the wind.

A further object is to provide a wing tripping element connected to avane and whereby the said element is always held in proper positionrelative to the course of the wind for shifting the wings at the propertime during the rotation of the wheel.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the wings can belocked in horizontal positions and thus hold the wheel against rotation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown. In said drawings :,Figure 1 is a plan view of the wind wheeland adjacent parts. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the windmill, portionsof the wheel being removed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of thetruss con nections bet-ween the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel.Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the tripping rail. Fig. 5 is a plan Viewof the wing locking mechanism. Fig. 6 is a section through a portion ofthe wing lock. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the wing lockingmechanism. Fig. 8 is a perspective-view of a portion of the trlppingrail and of certain of the parts adjacent thereto.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates theupper portion of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 8, 1911.

Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

Serial No. 637,438.

the tower of the windmill and a standard or shaft 2 is mounted forrotation therein, said shaft having a central frame 3 secured there toand revoluble therewith. Arms, preferably four in number, extendradially from the frame, as indicated at 4, each of these arms beingprovided with a truss 5 extending longitudinally thereunder and additional trusses 6 extending laterally therefrom. A pair of tie rods 7extends laterally in each direction from the outer end of each of thespokes 4, these tie rods diverging away from the spokes to which theyare secured, and being attached, at their spaced ends, to a bearingblock 8 located midway between the spoke ends. This construct-ion hasbeen clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. These bearing blocks have shafts 9journaled within them and the inner ends of the shafts are journaled inthe frame 3. Each shaft extends longitudinally through two wings such asindicated at 10 and 11, the wings 10 being interposed between thebearing blocks 8 and the frame 3 while the wings 11 are mounted on thoseportions of the shafts 9 project-ing beyond the bearing blocks 8. Theshafts 9 are not extended through the centers of the wings but are off.center so that one portion of each wing overbalances the other portionand said wings are thus normally held vertically. An arm 12 extendsradially from each shaft 9 between the frame 3 and the wing 10 and saidarm is disposed in the same plane with the wing and carries anadjustable weight 13. By shifting this weight away from the shaft 9, thewings can be almost balanced on. their shafts so that they can easilyswing out of the wind, thus materially reducing the power of the wheel.By shifting the weight toward the shaft 9, however, the wings will ofiermore resistance to the wind and the power of the wheel will thus bematerially increased.

Each of the shafts 9 is provided, adjacent its inner end, with an arm14: having an inwardly extending angularly disposed finger 15 adapted toride against and to be deflected by the curved end 16 of an arcuatetripping rail 17. Said rail extends partly around the shaft 2 and isfixedly connected to a vane 18 which is mounted for rotation on theshaft 2, the connecting frame used for holding the rail 17 to the vanebeing indicated at 19. Rail 17 is arranged almost entirely at one sideof the vane 18, the end portions of the rail being extended shortdistances beyond the other side of the vane.

Extending under and connected to the rail 17 is a ring 20 havingupstantindg ears 21 arranged in pairs, each pair of ears carrying a bolt22 normally projected radially by a spring 23. Cords 24: extend from theinner ends of the bolts and are connected together so that, by pullingon a single cord 25, all of the bolts may be drawn inwardly so as toretract the outwardly projecting ends of the bolts whereas, when thecord 25 is released, the bolts will be automatically-projected. One ofthese bolts is provided for each shaft 9 and they are spaced apart equaldistances.

It is to be understood that the arms 14: normally extend upwardly andthat the fingers 15 travel in a path intersected by the upturned curvedend 16 of the arcuate tripping rail 17. hen the fingers 15 are under therail 17,they hold the shaft 9 with Wings 10 and 11 in a horizontalplane, and as the rail 17 is arranged practically only at one side ofthe vane, it will be apparent that the wings at said side of the vanewill always he held horizontally while the wings at the other side ofthe vane are free to hang vertically or substantially vertical. When thebolts 22 are projected, or in their normal positions, they extendbetween the ring 20 and the rail 17, certain of the bolts projectinginto the paths of the fingers 15 which are held down by rail 17 and thuspreventing the wings 10 and 11 and their shafts 9 from rotatingindependently of the vane. When, therefore, a current of air flowsagainst the wheel, the hanging or free wings will be shifted by the windso as to move the vane slightly out of the wind until the pressures uponthe vane and the hang ing wings are equalized whereupon the wheel willremain practically stationary. When, however, the bolts are retracted bymeans of the cords hereinbefore described, the pressure of the windagainst the free or hanging wings will cause the wheel to rotate and thepressure of the wind against the vane will promptly bring said vane intothe wind. As the wheel rotates the fingers 15 will be broughtsuccessively against the deflecting upturned end 16 of the tripping rail17 and will be swung downwardly thereby, thus rotating the shaft towhich the arm 14 is connected and bringing the wings on the shaft to ahorizontal position. The wings are maintained in th1s position as longas the finger is traveling under the rail 17 and, therefore, the wingsremain horizontal until after they have passed under the front end ofthe vane whereupon the finger moves from under rail 17 and the wings,because overbalanced will swing to operative position and receive theforce of the wind. Should the velocity of the wind in crease to anundesirable extent it will cause the hanging portions of the wings toswing back with the wind while the upstanding smaller portions of thewings will more forward against the wind, it being understood that theforce necessary to thus swing the wings is dependent upon the distancebetween the shaft 9 and the weight 13. As soon as it is desired to stopthe rotation of the wheel, the cords 24: and 25 are released and thebolts 22 thus spring radially, those bolts under the 'rail 17 movinginto the path. of the fingers 15 arranged under the rail and as soon assaid fingers come into contact with the bolts, the vane 18 is swungslightly out of the wind by the momentum of the wheel and this movementof the vane and wheel continues until the pressure of the wind upon thevane and upon the free or hanging wings is equalized.

A gear,such as indicated at 26 may be secured to the shaft 2 and usedfor driving any suitable mechanism.

It will be apparent that whenever the direction of the wind changes, thevane 18 will shift the rail 17 so that said rail will always assume thesame relation to the di rection of the wind.

As shown in Fig. 2 the upper end of the shaft 2 may be mounted in abearing ring or collar 27 from which guides 28 extend to anchoring posts29 or the like, whereby the upper end of the shaft can be held steadyduring the operation of the mill.

As shown in Fig. 2, the vane 18 is preferably provided with a truss 30for reinforcing it.

What is claimed is 1. A windmill including a vane, a wheel, said vaneand wheel being separately revoluble about a common axis, radiallydisposed shafts carried by the wheel, wings secured to the shafts andnormally suspended vertically, an adjustable counter-balance upon eachshaft, cooperating means upon each shaft and on the vane for rotatingthe shaft and shifting the wing thereon to a horizontal position whensaid shaft and wing are extended beyond one side of the vane, and meansfor locking the wheel against rotation independently of the vane.

2. A windmill including a vane,a wheel, said vane and wheel beingrevoluble about a common axis and independently of each other, anarcuate tripping rail extended beyond one side of and movable with thevane, said rail having an upstanding deflecting terminal portion, shaftsarranged radiall within the wheel, wings carried by the shafts andnormally extended vertically, means carried by each shaft andcooperating with the tripping rail for rotating the shaft and holdingthe wing thereon in a horizontal p0sition while the shaft is extendedbeyond one side of the vane, and means for locking the Wheel againstrotation independently of the vane.

3. A Windmill including a vane, a Wheel, said vane and Wheel beingseparately revoluble about a common axis, Wings carried by the Wheel andnormally vertical, cooperating means upon the Wheel and vane forshifting the Wings to horizontal positions when brought into place atone side of the vane,

and means for locking the Wheel and vane 10 against independentrotation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JAMES OWEN LINDSEY. Witnesses:

R. T. Mosns, J. A. BUCKNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

